Copper, aluminum stolen from A/C units

LEE COUNTY: A rooftop burglary leaves a North Fort Myers plaza stripped of $60,000 worth of property. And people we spoke to say the thieves knew exactly what they were after and how to get the job done.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, thieves stripped the coils, copper and aluminum from 10 of 15 commercial AC units on the roof of a plaza near Pondella Road, leaving nothing but worthless steel panels behind.

"They gutted the crap out of it," said John Rodgers, the property representative. "They knew exactly what they were after. They didn't take any piece of equipment that had no scrap value."

He went on to say, "I have never ever had someone climb up on the roof and steal anything."

Restaurant and bar owner Chilly Pinheiro was sleeping in her office the other night when she says she heard a noise.

"I thought someone was trying to get into my business," she said. "It woke me up. I went to go look and there was nothing there."

By Wednesday morning, her month-old AC unit wasn't working. And it was only a few hours later she was convinced that what she heard were burglars in action.

"I was like, ‘Oh my God.' I had no clue who in their right mind would come and steal the guts out of 10 units," said Pinheiro.

With copper prices now back up to more than $3 a pound, the metal is back on the hot list for thieves looking to steal scrap and cash in.

And as if stealing 10 AC units isn't enough, that plaza is located just a stone's throw away from the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Rodgers says the AC units on that plaza will soon be equipped with alarms.

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